Midway through the third round, Anthony Smith started to understand why Jon Jones is considered one of the the greatest mixed martial artist of all time.

Jones stuck to the same blueprint Saturday night that he has executed so well over his career, methodically wearing down his challenger in the opening rounds before using his full set of tools to finish the fight.

The former Union-Endicott wrestler defended his light heavyweight championship with a unanimous decision victory over Smith at UFC 235 in Las Vegas.

"Hats off to Anthony Smith," Jones told Joe Rogan after the fight. "His reputation is being so durable, and now I know why they call him Lionheart. This guy is so durable; he's like the Terminator."

For a brief moment in the fourth round, however, Jones was staring at a possible loss. Jones (24-1 MMA, 18-1 UFC) was deducted two points after an illegal knee to the head of Smith, who took a few moments to gather himself before saying he was OK to fight. If Smith (31-14 MMA, 7-4 UFC) was unable to finish the fight, Jones would have been disqualified.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 02: Anthony Smith collects himself after taking a knee to the face during a light heavyweight title bout against Jon Jones during UFC 235 at T-Mobile Arena on March 02, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jones won by unanimous decision. (Photo by Isaac Brekken/Getty Images
) Isaac Brekken, Getty Images

"I know I could have sat there and take the DQ win," Smith said of the illegal knee. "I want to win it; I don't want to steal it."

Both fighters were cautious to open the the first round as they each tried to get the timing down on the other. Jones landed more significant shots to the body in the round, including several hard kicks, and was the pacesetter, although Smith did land a nice head kick in the round.

Jones increased his offensive attack in the second round, landing several hard shots in the opening minute including a spinning elbow. Smith returned some hard body shots midway through the round and tried to keep the fight in the middle of the ring, but Jones continued to wear Smith down with constant blows to the body.

With Smith tiring and throwing less punches, Jones went for a takedown to start the third round and eventually took Smith down with 2 minutes left. He continued to beat Smith up with an unrelenting stand-up and ground attacks in the final rounds.

"I'm starting to really feel like a veteran," Jones said. "I felt like Randy Couture, holding (Smith) against the cage and chipping away. It was a different fight for me."

Jones regained his light heavyweight championship at UFC 232 in a third round TKO victory over Alexander Gustafsson on Dec. 29 following a 17-month absence from the sport. He tested positive for turinabol after a victory over Daniel Cormier in July 2017, was stripped of the title and suspended.

Jones has had several drug tests come back with trace amounts of turinabol since his comeback in December, including two in February while preparing for the Smith fight. The NSAC still cleared Jones to fight after after the chief of the lab that screened the samples restated his opinion that the metabolites offered no performance-enhancing benefit and weren’t evidence of recent steroid use.

"Right now I'm just going to enjoy this win and go back to the drawing board and figure out ways to get better," Jones said. "I'm not going to call out anybody. I'm just going to go home, take a shower and enjoy my team."